This athletic, energetic style of street dance was one of four recommendations by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board in Lausanne for provisional inclusion at its Session in June, along with skateboarding, surfing and sport climbing, with the latter three making their Olympic debuts in Tokyo next year.

According to most of its exponents, however, there is no such thing as breakdancing. The correct term is "breaking", with those doing the "breaking" being known either a "b-boys" or "b-girls".

Part of the reason for breaking’s likely inclusion in the Paris pantheon of Olympic sports is that it has been hugely popular in France since the early 1980s, following the creation of groups such as the Paris City Breakers - modelled on the pioneering New York City Breakers.

In 1984, France became the first country in the world to have a regularly and nationally broadcast television show about hip hop - with a focus on hip hop dance

If it does end up in Paris 2024, breaking will owe much to its debut within the Olympic programme at last year’s Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, which was deemed highly successful in terms of the response it provoked through its three medal events - for b-boys, b-girls and a mixed team event.

As breaking receives another IOC acknowledgement, the chagrin of sports such as karate - which makes its debut at Tokyo 2020 but then faces immediate exclusion - or squash - which has now tried and failed to make the Olympics on four consecutive occasions - will become more intensely felt.

Both tick so many boxes - practised worldwide, hugely athletic with a clear scoring system to determine winners and losers.

When the four new sports for Paris 2024 were first proposed last month, it was "breakdancing" that caused eyebrows to be raised highest.

The mechanics of assessment and inclusion have been in place for more than 20 years - the World Dance Sport Federation, which was established in 1957, was officially recognised by the IOC in 1997 and now has 89 member national federations around the world, with 71 countries participating in the most recent World Championships.

Speaking in Lausanne, the IOC President Thomas "DJ Kool" Bach commented: "It is a very authentic expression, you feel with every performance that the personality of the athletes, it is not just delivering an exercise, it is expressing yourself."

All of this may be true. But does - or should - that make "breaking" a bona fide Olympic sport?

The original announcement prompted the following response from my erstwhile and esteemed colleague Mr Neil Wilson, late of the Daily Mail and now a sagacious freelance commentator on the world of sport.

Neil’s take on "breakdancing" was – “It’s culture, not sport.”

A film report by king5.com highlighting the Massive Monkeys Crew who practise at a Seattle dance studio presented clips showing a broadly positive response to breaking’s Olympic possibilities - albeit tinged with a certain bemusement. It certainly didn't seem to be a pressing concern to the regulars, or the realisation of a long-held dream.

"In many ways it is a sport, because a lot of people do treat it as a sport. But it’s definitely an art form and a dance first, before anything," said one of the Crew.

In recent years, breaking might more readily have found itself included in the Cultural Olympiad – such as the one organised by London 2012 which included art, music and drama, featuring, among others, Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett, musician Damon Albarn and artists David Hockney, Lucien Freud and Rachel Whiteread.

That London cultural celebration mirrored the art competitions that were held as part of the 1948 London Olympics. There medals were on offer for activities ranging from painting, sculpture, music and literature to town planning.

As a sidenote - the town planning gold was won by Finland’s Yrjo Lindegren for "The Centre of Athletics in Varkaus".  In some categories, a gold, and even a silver medal were simply not awarded. In the sculpture category of Reliefs, for example, Britain’s Rosamund Fletcher earned the only medal for her work "The End of the Covert" - a bronze.

The problem with dance is that there is no clear and obvious winner. It is not a matter of getting somewhere first, or scoring the most goals.

However, it is a problem that also obtains with numerous historically established Olympic sports - such as gymnastics. Are we saying that, for example, an artistic floor exercise by Olga Korbut, or Simone Biles, is not really sport?

Such as - and here I can imagine Neil smiling a little - ice dance. Another sport judged partly on aesthetics. Surely we’re not going to diss Torvill and Dean?

To be honest, the question is enough to get anyone in a head spin. Or should that be a back spin? Or an elbow spin?

For President Bach, the inclusion of breaking accesses youth, and the continuing freshness of the Olympic brand.

As for the event itself - you could call it "The Notorious IOC".

Better not, though.